Chasing Alyssa

     During Pope Francis's recent visit to the United States, he cancelled a fancy lunch with major Washington politicians to visit with some of the homeless population in the area. He also encouraged congregants (on multiple occasions) to have compassion for others in their community, who they may normally ignore or even look down upon. He invited people to open their awareness and their hearts. The following story is an early "ah-ha" moment for me in NYC-living, that I think speaks to Pope Francis's message in a small way.      I grew up in a very small seaside town in Massachusetts. When I moved to NYC to study music theater, it was a huge shift on many levels. One of the differences for me was the increased presence of the homeless population: on the streets, in the subway, in the parks, everywhere, and in rather close proximity (as every facet of city life is marked by close proximity!). Every day I witness people struggling to get by, beggi...

Last year’s Oscar win for Best Foreign Film was a Michael Haneke feature produced in France titled “Amour.” It was a beautiful and difficult film to experience. One scene in particular I keep turning over in my mind. Emmanuelle Riva plays Anne, a retired piano teacher living with her husband Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) in their beautiful apartment in Paris. She silently suffers a stroke which results in multiple medical setbacks including eventual dementia, all within a very short period of time. After their initial discovery of her condition before Anne undergoes surgery for a blocked carotid, the couple are seen contemplating the possible outcomes of overcoming this new obstacle, Anne looking anxious and pensive. She sits at the farm table in their kitchen with a large scrap book on her lap. She slowly turns each page poring over pictures of herself as a child and old newspaper clippings. Georges asks her what she’s thinking and her response is a kind, but overwhelmed, “No,...

On a long weekend this past fall, we took advantage of some of the bah-squillion cultural activities NYC has to offer. That Sunday we went out to JFK airport as this program, Open House New York, had opened the Saarinen TWA terminal for visitors. Investors will make the current terminal into the central lobby of a hotel, including a small museum and have a couple outer buildings for the actual accommodations. The site is protected by the National Register of Historic Places so developers can restore and preserve, but not demolish. Thank God... I had seen pictures of how beautiful the modernistic design of the terminal was, but didn’t expect the experience of exploring the space to be so moving. There were supporting statements from the architect, Eero Saarinen and others involved in building and protecting the terminal on some displays throughout the space. “We wanted passengers passing through the building to experience a fully-designed environment in which each part arise...